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Building a bat's dream home isn't easy Bob Pennell photo Jennifer Sanborn, of the Bureau of Land Management, shows off bat houses built like a rocket, one of three designs being tested to determine what type of housing bats prefer. Scientists want to know if the critters will roost in man-made dwellings By PAUL FATTIG Holy bat-box builders, Batman! Winged mammals that flit mysteriously through the night can now pick their preferred lodging among three styles of dwellings being tested in remote forested sites in Jackson and Josephine counties as part of a pioneer research project by bat aficionados. Bats looking for a day's rest may choose the traditional nursery box developed by Bat Conservation International, a group seeking to educate folks in the dark about bats. But jet-setting bats may select the second box that resembles a rocket. Bat-box builders wanted Anyone interested in the local research project on artificial bat roosts is invited to lend a hand constructing the boxes on June 14. Participants will meet at the Bureau of Land Management's Medford District office at 9 a.m. that day, then proceed to the agency's Sprague Seed Orchard in Merlin for the construction. For additional information, contact BLM wildlife biologist Marylou Schnoes at 618-2250. For more information on bats and building bat houses, check out Bat Conservation International's Web site at: www.batcon.org. The third option is known as the "Oregon wedge," a design created by retired Southern Oregon University professor Steve Cross, a noted bat expert. "These artificial roosts are one means of softening the blow for woodland bats who are losing their natural roosting sites," explained Marylou Schnoes, a wildlife biologist with the Bureau of Land Management's Medford District. Until now, there has been virtually no scientific testing to determine which type of housing bats prefer, she said. "Very few have done experiments in large forest settings like this," said Dan Taylor, a wildlife biologist and current director of BCI's Bats in Forest project. "We want to find out if they will use them, and what type of housing they will use," he added. The southwestern Oregon study is on the cutting edge of bat science, he said. A similar study will be replicated in Minnesota and in the American Southwest, he said. Schnoes and Taylor and others helping in the project haven't gone batty. "Bats are extremely important in the wild," Schnoes said. "They are great consumers of insects. They help keep insect populations under control." For instance, a little brown bat can gobble up to 1,200 insects in an hour, Taylor said, adding they are also important plant pollinators in many areas. Thus far, five of a planned 15 bat condos offering the three different roost styles have been erected on 20-foot metal pipes from Prospect to Wolf Creek. In addition to the BLM, the Forest Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Northwest Youth Corps, Boise Cascade Corp. and volunteers are participating in the project. The "winning" bat box style will be the one which accumulates the most bat guano in special screen-covered guano collectors, Schnoes said. The boxes will be monitored for several years. "No one really knows the overall health of bats in the region," she said, adding that the test will help shed light on the nocturnal creatures. A majority of the 15 species of bats found in Oregon raise their pups - baby bats - in old trees, Taylor said. "When you cut down an old snag, you are probably cutting down a bat home," he said. "It's not that bats are old-growth species, but they need old trees and dead trees. "But some forestry practices can improve bat habitat. While they like to rest in old trees, they like small openings to catch insects." The idea isn't to find an alternative to their natural roosting sites, he stressed. "We believe natural habitat is very important," he said. "But it's also important to learn whether they will use artificial habitat where natural habitat has already been lost." The project, which is drawing widespread support from volunteers and others, will help educate people about the importance of bats in the wild, Schnoes said. "They've really suffered from bad PR over the years," she said. Taylor agreed. "A lot of myths about bats aren't true," he said. "They aren't blind. They see quite well. "Some people think of them as flying rodents," he added. "But bats - some can live up to 35 years - are more closely related to humans. They are very clean animals." And ones that are invited to check in at a bat condo anytime, he added. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.